GreenTea

I was recently in Brisbane on my recce and was shocked at the bad road signage, bad driving and bad layout of the road. is this just becase its a small city that has rapidly exspanded or is this indicative of all of Oz?

raven

U will soon find out overbhere that courtesy on the roads is an alien word to aussies.Amazes me how such nice friendly people can turn into road hogs behind a wheel. But remember we are the visitors here and we dont want to sound like whingeing poms so we just get on with it
Raven

themerlin

don't agree with bad road signage or bad layout maybe because it different to what you know. But bad road condition ie pot holes can be an issue.

Bad driving? They have an annoying habit of tailgating, but don't tend to speed like in the UK.

Hutch

Spot on. Which also leads to the hilarious tail-gate/overtake/piddle along in front of you at the speed limit scenario.

Rosie Cheeks

Don't know if it is the same Oz wide - probably.

Queensland driving is certainly terrifying at times!

moneypenny20

I don't think the driving here is any worse than the UK. Maybe it seems that way because you were visiting and therefore were being more cautious

I think the signage to be pretty good. And road layout - I don't see the problem, what's wrong with it?

The Bloke

Obviously don't get on the road much. Driving down to the Gold Coast along the Pacific Hwy/ M1 whatever, speed limit 100-110kph, normal speed of vehicles 120kph plus. Sitting on limit and have been past by trucks limited to 100kph. Most other roads are just as bad. The big thing at the moment is high performance cars driven by kids who try to emulate V8 Supercar drivers by treating the road as a racetrack.

rabsody

Check this one out .... today i got a ticket for crossing the road in brisbane cbd! Yes, i followed a group of people over the lights and because it had turned to red half way over, a policeman who was waiting specifically to get pedestrians cornered me and asked for my license. i thought it was a joke! he then pulled out his book, just like a speeding ticket, and issued me with a $30 fine. i kid you not. i said "good to see you are out there solving crime, what a valid job you have". What a @@@@!!! Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous!! And they just put up with it over here. Just shows what a pathetic nanny state it is out here and strengthens my resolve to get out.

rabsody

I noticed from day one how awful the driving was here in Brisbane. You have to force your way out as no one will let you out (even if you indicate way in advance). No one thanks you if you let them in either. I've seen people just stopping while merging onto the motorway (instead of speeding up to merge with the motorway traffic) as they are (a) absolutely hopeless at merging and (b) no-one lets you in. Also there is no semblance of lane discipline at all - it's a total free for all.

There are also greedy fat b@st@rd traffic cops at every turn, you will see them out and about with their revenue raising most days in mobile units.

Having said that it's just the way they are here, I think people have got slightly more courteous in the past few years. Besides, you just adapt and learn to do it a bit your way and a bit their way.

Hope that helps.

The Bloke

Solution simple - don't jaywalk.

rabsody

Answer simple - the lights were still green when i started walking - DUH!!!!

newlife_downunder

Two weeks ago we were on our Reccie visit to Brisbane, but must say I thought how great the road signs were, thought the roads had better layouts than here in Hampshire! All in all I thought everyone seemed more laid back driving over there. Each to there own I suppose! But gets my vote

jon and alex

I'd agree with that but would also second the views about the lack of courtesy. The funny thing is that Australians dont know what the hell you are doing when you stop to let them pull out and half the time they just sit there and stare at you as though you some sort of nut-job!!!
Once you get used to the idea of not being courteous all is good!

Rosie Cheeks

There appears to be, what I would call, and "unwritten courtesy rule" in the UK.

This "unwritten rule" doesn't exist in Australia. So the best policy is to just forget your manners, block people in a junctions and totally ignore them, being as rude as you possibly can

Oh, and don't indicate that you are changing lanes , just take them by surprise, and suddenly swerve infront of them.

007

Indicating here is seen as giving away your next move.